Hot Stove League 2015

there's some Murphy guy who the Mets may be going after now. Supposedly the Mets offer was similar and they thought they had Zobrist signed but the Cubbies swooped in in the late innings.

I'm not going to get too upset that the Mets were denied the opportunity to throw $60MM for a guy who's going to be 38 years old when his deal is up.

I think the Castro move has super potential for the Yankees.  If Castro solidifies he and Didi could be a really solid duo in the middle of the infield.  

I think if the Mets re-sign Kelly Johnson, and let Reynolds, Tejada, Flores and Hererra compete for starting infield jobs, they will be fine.  They can turn their attention to getting an OF bat.

I know Carlos Gonzalez has typical Rockies home/away splits, so he won't have the stats he's put up if he's playing in Citi Field.  But I like the idea of trading for him, putting him in RF, moving Granderson to LF.  And using Granderson in CF against righties, sitting Lagares and putting Conforto in LF.  Cuddyer would be a sometimes LF against tough lefties, and a backup 1B.

To me, the best thing about Gonzalez is that he's only signed for 2 more years, so it's not a long commitment.  Because it would be a gamble to take him out of Coors and expect him to be the big bat they need.

I'd like to Conforto play full time.  He's real or he isn't.  Let's see.  

FilmCarp said:

I'd like to Conforto play full time.  He's real or he isn't.  Let's see.  

I wouldn't argue with that if they decided not to pick up another OF and gave that as the rationale.

Agree with FilmCarp regarding Conforto.

Yankees getting Castro for next to nothing was the best move of the off-season.  However, won't mean too much unless they add a quality starter.  

Adam warren is Shane Greene 2.0.  Good move but I don't expect a lot out of Castro.

The Mets done good!  Neil Walker at second base and Asdrubal Cabrera at shortstop just gave their pitchers a few extra wins next year on fielding alone.  Niese was very expendable at this point--and it means we might see Colon back for another year now!

I think this just means that Tejada and Flores will be the utility players.  I don't see them trading either.  The more I think about what they're likely to do next year, the more I think the deals make sense.  Figure no more than 120 games for Wright next year.  And Walker is likely to be on the bench against tough lefties, as is Duda.  Cabrera will probably start around 140 games.  So that's a lot of starts to be divvied up among Flores, Tejada, and Cuddyer.  And those three guys will be the right-handed pinch hitters.  They need a left-handed back up OF now, and they'll probably be set.  This lineup (as always, barring injuries), should be far superior to the one that the Mets had for the first half of the season.  They'll score a few more runs, and give up fewer in the IF (they'll be able to turn routine double plays!).
Granderson
Walker
Wright/Flores
Duda
d'Arnaud
Conforto/Cuddyer
Lagares/lefty hitter TBD
Cabrera

Like this year, next year's team just needs to stay in contention until July and find a power hitter before the trade deadline.  At this point I'd rather they pick up a lefty reliever than look for another bat.

Heyward to the Cubbies.  They have enough power in their lineup that his relative lack of it will not be a factor.  He has all the other tools, plus he seems like a good teammate to boot. 

Epstein has sure loaded up Chicago for several years of great runs for the ever elusive World Series.

Cueto to the Giants, giving them another very strong arm to compete with LA.

Frazier going to be traded from the Reds somewhere, and the Nationals are hot on his trail.  That would not be good in the Mets' division.

Todd Frazier to the White Sox in a three way trade with the Reds and LA--Chicago is now one loaded lineup, and it allows them to ease Saladino in at shortstop with less pressure on him to produce offensively.  With the newly acquired Lawrie moving to second base they will have a lot of good bats out there every day.

Some really fine prospects moved because of this deal, to LA and also to the Reds.  This is the way deals used to be made.

Meanwhile, the world is certainly changing in LA.  They are stockpiling prospects, even as they traded a few in this deal.  They have a lot of young arms now.

Bart Colon - Mets highest paid pitcher.  

Robert_Casotto said:

Bart Colon - Mets highest paid pitcher.  

That's cause they are paying him by the pound

Glad he's returning. He's a mentor for the staff.

wharfrat said:

Robert_Casotto said:

Bart Colon - Mets highest paid pitcher.  

That's cause they are paying him by the pound ">

Glad he's returning. He's a mentor for the staff.

that's the way it's always been in baseball.  you get paid for what you've done, not what you're going to do.

Which is why signing the hot free agent is so often a bad deal. As mfpark alluded to the Dodgers, the most recent poster boy for overspending and underperforming, are changing their tack. 

he's pulling in a smidge over a million per hit.  

that's an incentive for the others to get into the cage.  

Nats close to trading for Reds second basement Brendan Phillips.  Yikes, not good news for the Mets.

Chapman, Miller, Betances!  

Not so good for Red Sox fans, but pretty amazing for Yankees fans.

Great deal by Cashman, yet again.  After the domestic abuse issue and the blown-up LA deal, Chapman's cost plummeted.  Of the four prospects given up, two are decently ranked and the other two are throw-ins.  Meanwhile, if Chapman is suspended by MLB the Yankees still have a great pen and any time lost defers Chapman's eventual free agency, giving the Yanks control into or through 2017.  And the Yanks can easily absorb any arbitration award Chapman gets this year.

Chapman is a really fun player to watch.  I hope he comes clean on the anger and domestic violence stuff and becomes a positive role model.

Word is the O's and Chisox are the ones most interested in Cespedes, who is looking for a 6 year/$100 million deal.  That puts him in the range of Carlos Gonzalez, Jason Heyward, Pablo Sandoval, and Brian McCann, and a bit more expensive than Granderson, Trout, Upton and Ethier.  Pretty much a market price for Cespedes coming off a career year, although he is a bit up there in age for a 6 year deal.

Mets are saying they are not interested at this price and term, preferring to focus on a role player in the outfield (to be identified).  As of today their starting outfield is Conforto, Granderson, and Lagares.

Got nothing to add except thanks, mfpark, for keeping this thread up to date. I'm enjoying following it, even though under-engaged this off-season.

DaveSchmidt said:

Got nothing to add except thanks, mfpark, for keeping this thread up to date. I'm enjoying following it, even though under-engaged this off-season.

Have your Phils done anything this offseason?

mfpark said:

Mets are saying they are not interested at this price and term, preferring to focus on a role player in the outfield (to be identified).  As of today their starting outfield is Conforto, Granderson, and Lagares.

Isn't De Aza already that other outfielder?

Jim: Their splash was sending their hotshot young closer, Ken Giles, to the 'Stros for some pitching prospects, including the onetime (actually two-time, if I recall correctly) draft headliner Mark Appel.

Meanwhile, I get a good chuckle every time I see the "Notable FA" crawl while watching the MLB Network. "Phillies: Jeff Francoeur, Aaron Harang, Jerome Williams ..."

Train_of_Thought said:

mfpark said:

Mets are saying they are not interested at this price and term, preferring to focus on a role player in the outfield (to be identified).  As of today their starting outfield is Conforto, Granderson, and Lagares.

Isn't De Aza already that other outfielder?

Not sure that he is the last outfield signing for them yet.  I would not be surprised if they signed another FA outfielder.  De Aza had one good year in 2013 and has good range, but is basically a utility player.  They could use someone with more experience in the mix.  

DaveSchmidt said:

Jim: Their splash was sending their hotshot young closer, Ken Giles, to the 'Stros for some pitching prospects, including the onetime (actually two-time, if I recall correctly) draft headliner Mark Appel.

Meanwhile, I get a good chuckle every time I see the "Notable FA" crawl while watching the MLB Network. "Phillies: Jeff Francoeur, Aaron Harang, Jerome Williams ..."

Ryan Howard is making a splash lately.  Al Jazeera Mau-Maued him and Ryan Zimmerman with an undercover report linking them to PEDs.  Normally one would dismiss this but these days.........

Nats sign Stephen Drew.  

I guess he will play some shortstop with Desmond gone and no one really strong who is major-league ready for the Nats.  And he did hit 17 dingers last year--along with a Mendoza-line flirting batting average.

Someone has to hit eighth in the order, right?